I can’t believe that I haven’t written anything for nearly 4 months.

I guess I have been focussing on the moment and not really reflecting too much. After my initial freak out , fuelled by all the dire predictions(which I know are real fro many sufferers) I have spent my time being grateful for the good stuff. And no one will be surprised to know that amongst that good stuff is working on mini makes!

I have learnt so much patience doing this hobby. I enjoy the little triumphs and revel in finding solutions when I mess up. I even love comparing early triumphs and seeing how I have progressed. There is also a huge community of fellow mini makers who are so generous with their work and how to copy it. No divas there.

At a time when we are being lumped together by age and either blamed for causing strife or overly protected my hobby has made me feel an individual again.

I was brought up to be modest and not to expect praise but it hasn’t made me not want recognition and encouragement. Now I have learnt to be proud of a good job done.

My latest is part of a kit, a lockdown birthday pressie too and my own interpretation.

It was amazingly hard to make a messy flat! I am not that tidy in real life.

Keep well and safe folks

Now we are 2+ months into lockdown, life continues but it isn’t the life before.

As I said, making miniatures has remained a solid core.

We now have a routine of walking daily and each day I try to achieve something. So walls and fences are painted, garden is super tidy, if sparse and sooooo much has been accomplished in the dolls house.

Today, I finished a lockdown life diorama, inspired by a birthday gift from a clever loving brother and his wife.

So what am I learning? That even in this dark scary time, it is okay to have fun. In fact having fun is essential to good mental health.

Like everyone else I am trying to stay calm with the worldwide pandemic sweeping into all our lives.

As always apart from my family, only my mini makes are what keep me sane.

Even today, to avoid yet another update by the government, I whiled away a lovely hour , painting the cot and bureau I got for Christmas.

If we have to self isolate or distance ourselves from social contacts at least my minis will be there.

I know some people will catch the virus and I just hope the serious version hits fewer than they are predicting.

Keep well and safe.

Mabs March 2020

This the stash of stuff I got because my lovely family got me vouchers for Christmas.

Although I live making things, it is such a luxury to have some already built stuff. Most of my choices were for things I haven’t felt able to make.

But the joy is that these are all without finish, so I get to add my own stamp on each one.

I haven’t been this excited about Christmas for a very long time. To add to my joy, the company were having a sale so my money went soooo much further.

I am in the midst of rejuvenating a 3 storey house but keep getting side tracked by making bits and bobs for it.

This so called hobby has taken over my mind and my life, but I do enjoy the satisfaction of creating things. But I do worry a little that it can keep me awake at night when I am thinking how to do something.

I just hope that all this mind work out is protecting me from dementia.

Maybe a new name for the blog: Fight dementia with making miniatures.

Still going on as #Alan Bennet says.

Mabs

January 2020

It has been a while since I blogged, partly due to personal circumstances and there is only so much I share.

Partly too, I haven’t felt I had anything pertinent to say regarding miniature making.

Not that I haven’t been doing it, miniature making I mean, because I have.

I have enjoyed making some box rooms but I have always wanted to buy a proper house. It had to have 2 or 3 storeys and a proper hallway with stairs and closing doors.

You won’t be surprised to find that I have been haunting pre loved sites for a long time . It is amazing how many houses look right from the front but when you look deeper, they are not to 1/12 scale. A lot of children’s houses are not to scale and a lot of the other houses are prohibitively costly.

Anyway I found one but it was a long way away but it was the one I wanted . That is how we ended up in a car park in Wales, swapping a dolls house from one car to another. Next time you are in a car park and see this kind of activity, just think Gumtree not stolen goods.

It is big! I was going to stand it where my Santa’s workshop is but then I won’t manage to reach the top floor! I am quite small.

So 2020 will be my dolls house year but I am going to take my time.

This hobby is all consuming ,if I am not careful but it also makes people very friendly.

On a recent trip, everyone spoke to me because I was embroidering a bed cover . It brings the best out in folk.

Mabs December 2019

This is a photo of a recent up-cycle for my latest 1/12 scale room-box.

It involved making all these little book, covers courtesy of kind miniaturises who shared them on the internet. It is both a satisfying and bone crushing activity. Because I mostly use magazines to create the insides, I need to cut them to fit. My wrist and previously broken finger make their protests after quite a short time.

I have written before about the need to change my mindset and make things that look good but are not necessarily perfect.

A good metaphor for the real world too. There speaks someone who doesn’t expect perfection in others but struggles to accept her own mistakes and less than perfect results.

Anyway, what I wanted to write about was that I shared this image on a tutorial site and I was blown away by the response.

99 people like and loved it and many left lovely encouraging comments. This may not sound much to the Kardashian like followers many people seem to have but this is a group of highly talented people. And they liked what I had made from a box from The Works.

I do this hobby because I love creating things, often repurposing something. But it feels really good if others live it too.

So I do get a lot of satisfaction from the doing but I still love the positive strokes from others.

Hey, I never said I was perfect.

Mabs

October 2019

Recently I have enjoyed making little rooms/ boxes for others as gifts.

I cannot tell you the enjoyment of trying to reflect their personality and interests in miniature.

One of them,as I may have already mentioned, has yet to be opened as it is a Christmas present. Because I was visiting in the summer, they have already got the parcel, carefully wrapped.

I am ridiculously excited to see if they like it. But I am a little afraid too because I have put so much into it that if they aren’t thrilled to bits, I will be disappointed.

Maybe I need to realise that this is my passion, no one else who doesn’t share that can feel like I do. No ones response can be enough unless they too know the effort, mental and physical that goes into it.

Slowly I have come to realise that any artistic endeavour, painting, writing and crafting is most important to the creator.

Like a reflection of life, I should not need anyone else’s validation of what I do.

It is my hobby and if I am enjoying it then that is enough.A Harry Potter robe made for a scene for me.

Mabs

September 2019

Not wanting to burden folk or overshare, all I want to say is that this month(August) is going to be tough.

What we have to endure isn’t by choice but the long term outlook is fairly good. Despite that , I am finding it more stressful than I want to admit. Those in whom I would usually confide are either just as worried and don’t need any more or they have their own challenges, so the smile is pinned on. Underneath I am trying hard not to be the worrier I usually am.

So my saviour has been my miniatures. If I am not building something, I am planning how to do the next wee bit. Even a wee piece of cross stitch keeps me occupied and is wonderfully portable wherever we are. I have been nicknamed Dorothy the doll house lady, 😂😂 by those sharing our experience.

Another distraction has been preparing a birthday present for my grandaughter. A wee memory frame to sum up her interests. I think I got just as much fun out of doing it as she did receiving it.

Apologies for it being on its side but I don’t know how to turn the photo. Oh dear.

Top marks to those of you who can make it out.

So thank you miniatures for keeping me sane.

Mabs August 2019

For quite sometime I have lusted after the kits that you can buy to make miniature scenes.

Eventually I scrounged one for my birthday and this week I have concentrated on it.

Unlike my usual stuff, it is much smaller in scale , probably 1/24 or smaller.

Everything is provided as well as instructions, which although fairly comprehensive are not always easy to follow.

I am more than half way through and although it is beginning to look quite good, it has taught me a lesson.

Although they look lovely when finished, these are not for me. I don’t like the reliance on paper to replicate carpets and fittings and oh it is sooooo fiddly.

The real lesson is that 1/12 scale is the scale for me and I really love the inventiveness of working out how to make things from trash.

So all that glitters is not always the best !

But I am glad I have had a go.

Mabs July 2019

Recently I have seen discussion on FB miniature sites about how therapeutic making minis can be.

Quite a few folk have openly discussed their physical and mental difficulties which are alleviated by their hobby. Others speak positively about the distraction which it provides from their pain, again physical and mental.

I am aware of the power of concentration which comes with the enjoyment of a hobby. We are after all doing something because we choose to do it. Presumably we mostly enjoy it. I have to be honest there have been times when the glue gun is in danger of being flung across the room in frustration. But I usually calm down and wait to have another go. The trick for me is to accept that mistakes are usually a sign of tiredness.

What I am pondering is the idea that this is probably true of many hobbies, painting, sculpting etc. These too are absorbing but mini making allows you to try all of these hobbies too but in miniature. Also if you are making things yourself, you can afford to have a second go.

So my title is a red herring, it should maybe be Making miniatures is both a hobby and a therapy.

Anything that bring such a sense of achievement, enjoyment and satisfaction , which gives you the control without interference from others but attracts support and encouragement from fellow miniaturists is indeed a therapy too.

Happy mini making.

My latest fun, a mini Harry Potter scene for my cabinet in the summer house. All started because I managed to make some wands and the rest just filled my mind!!!

Mabs May 2019